


The Color of Rain

by CharismaticAlpaca



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-30 04:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6408358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharismaticAlpaca/pseuds/CharismaticAlpaca
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The birds don't match the trees.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Color of Rain

**Author's Note:**

> A ficlet for Darcy, since we're the only people we know who ship this!

It hadn’t stopped raining since they arrived in this world.  
They had landed on a road lined with misshapen trees, and after two hours of walking, all four sets of teeth were chattering. Mokona had even whined its way into Kurogane’s cloak.  
By the time they found a dry little hunting cabin along the road, Sakura was exhausted and chilled to the bone, and even a roaring fire in the little hearth didn’t help her. A can of beans, swiped from a cabinet and heated over the fire, just made her sleepy. So Syaoran and Kurogane sneaked outside to seek out the feather while she dozed on the threadbare couch.  
When she woke an hour later, her whole body ached.  
She groaned, pressing her hand to her face. Her forehead was slick with sweat, her skin warm. Her dry throat hurt.  
“Syaoran…?” She tried to sit up, quickly giving up when the room spun around her. It was hot in there. No, it was cold…  
“Sakura.”  
She tilted her head slowly, warding off the dizziness, to see Fai tucked into a chair at the high table. His chin was propped up on one hand, the other holding open a book.  
“Where is Syaoran?” She blinked, squinting against the light from the window.  
“He and the Big Puppy went to find your feather.” He turned in the chair, one long leg dangling almost to the floor. “Are you feeling all right, Sakura? You’re very pale.”  
“I’m…” She closed her eyes as the room rocked again. “Is there water?”  
He hopped out of the chair, crossing the room to look through the cabinets built into the wall.  
“I don’t feel well.” She let her hand slide off her forehead, off the couch.  
“You were out in the rain for a while.” He came to her with a bottle, cracked off the lid, and tried to hand it to her.  
She couldn’t raise her hand to take it.  
“Take it easy.” He sat on the floor next to her, held her hand as she maneuvered her way up the couch so her head was almost upright. Then he brought the water bottle to her lips, and she sipped it carefully. It soothed her throat, but her head still ached.  
She groaned quietly, staring off at the ceiling.  
Fai set the bottle down next to her, getting to his feet and wandering back to the table. "I remembered something. It might be silly, but do you want to hear it?"  
She welcomed the distraction. “Of course.”  
He picked up the book, sat cross-legged by the couch again. “This is a birdwatching guide.”  
She peeked over at it, blinking slowly. “The birds here are pretty…” All pink and orange, colors that couldn’t possibly blend in to the sea of gnarled trees.  
“It was a few worlds ago,” he said. His soft voice was soothing, and she struggled to keep her eyes open. “There were birds outside the window of the inn. Remember?”  
“Mm-hmm.” She nodded. Noisy little birds.  
“Well, before we left, they started talking like us.”  
She cocked her head. “Like us? What do you mean?”  
“In our voices.” He grinned. “They got Kurogane wrong, but I thought they were Syaoran the night before we left.”  
“What did they say?” She settled down, tucking her hands beneath her cheek.  
“They said, ‘Sakura, where did you go?’”  
“In Syaoran’s voice…”  
“Yes. But they made a mistake.” He chuckled. “They said it over and over and over… ‘Where did you go? Sakura, where did you go? Sakura…’”  
Her eyes fluttered closed.  
He shut the book, put the lid back on the water bottle so it wouldn’t spill. Very carefully brushed a lock of hair off of her damp cheek.  
The room was growing brighter. He glanced over his shoulder and blinked in surprise.  
The rain had stopped. Sunlight poured through the window, bright spots cast on the floor by water droplet lenses. And outside, a sea of color bloomed.  
Pink and orange blossoms had opened on every inch of the twisted trees, and birds of the same colors flitted from flower to flower.


End file.
